Kansai Cool (A Journey into the Cultural Heartland of Japan)

In Kansai Cool anthropologist, writer and filmmaker Christal Whelan offers profound insights in the only collection of essays to focus on Kansai, Japan's ancient heartland.

Kansai--the region in Western Japan that boasts the ancient capitals of Kyoto and Nara, the bustling commercial city of Osaka and the cosmopolitan port city of Kobe--has a character all its own, right down to its dialect, mannerisms, and cuisine. It is home to some of Japan's oldest history and an area where the country's most time-honored arts and crafts still thrive. Worldly and otherworldly, spirited and spiritual, trendy and traditional, it's a place where past and future live side-by-side, sometimes at odds.

Part Japanese travel book, part cultural commentary, these 25 spirited essays and 32 pages of color photos paint a broad yet penetrating portrait of the unique Western Japan region, covering such diverse topics as:

• The needs of the spirit--shrines, temples and the call to pilgrimage
• The arts in Kansai--dance, painting, anime, and combat
• The relationship between hi-tech and old-tech
• Material culture--bikes, robots, and dolls
• The culture of fashion in Kansai--from kimonos and obis to modern fashion designers, and the Lolita complex
• The meaning of landscape-- human-made islands and the mystical power of water
• The hidden meaning of food--an anthropology of coffee and traditional cuisine

From the deep-seated ancient beliefs of Kyoto to modern teen otaku culture, costume play and haute couture of Kobe and Osaka--Whelan delves below the surface to let readers eager to travel to Japan experience how art, science, faith and history swirl together in the Kansai region to produce this unique wellspring of Japanese culture.

This book title, Kansai Cool (A Journey into the Cultural Heartland of Japan), ISBN: 9780804850551, by Christal Whelan, published by Tuttle Publishing (July 10, 2018) is available in paperback. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.

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